Vending-machine.



R. I. DQWNEY. VENDING MACHINE. YAPPLIOATIOH IIILED 11:13.1. 1910.

Patented Dec. '27, 1910;

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R. F. DOWNEY.

VENDING MACHINE, APPLIOATiON IILED rmm. 1910.

Patented Dec.27, 1910.

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R; F. DOWNEY. VENDING MACHINE.

Patented Dec.27, 1910.

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- RICHARD F. DOWNEY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

VENDING-MACHIN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 1, 1910.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

Serial No. 541,351.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD F. DOWNEY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact de-' scription thereof.

My invention has for its main object to provide a simple, economical and positively actuated machine for vending merchandise, it being especially applicable to cigars and preferably provided with a locking mechanism under coin control,

Another object of the invention is to provide means for arbitrarily controlling the delivery of one or more cigars at a single operation.

Another object is to provide means whereby the box containing the cigars may be gyrated slightly to loosen the cigars and facilitate feeding the same toward the delivery mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a detachable feeder which is adapted to be inserted rearward of the cigars and positively actuated to cause a slight travel of said feeder at each operation of the mechanism.

The invention also contemplates means for preventing overthrow of the parts due to momentum.

With these and other minor objects in view, the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional view of the vending machine embodying the features of my invention, the section being indicated by line 11 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2, an elevation of the same partially in longitudinal section as in dicated by line 22 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a sectional plan view of the machine as indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4:, a cross section of the same as indicated by lines 4.4 of Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 5, a detailed crosssection as indicated by line 55 of Fig. 1.

Referring by characters to the "drawings 1 indicates a base, having secured thereto a casing 2 constructed from a series of transparent plates of glass, the top section 3 of which is preferably detachable, whereby access may be had to the mechanism. The front end of the casing is provided with a metallic hopper 4, into which hopper the cigars are delivered to the operator. Secured to the base just rearward of the hopper are a pair of frame-plates 5 and 5 provided with bearings for a shaft 6, to which shaft is secured a pair of disks 7. The peripheries of these disks are cut away to form pockets 8, which pockets are of such depth as to permit of the reception of a single cigar, there being a pocket 8 of greater depth than that of the series, the capacity of which pocket will permit two cigars to be held therein. These disks in connection with the shaft constitute a reel, which is arranged to be mechanically rotated at each operation of the machine the space equal to the distance between the pockets, whereby a single cigar or two, as the case may be, will be delivered to the hopper with each operation. An apron 9 is disposed just rearward of the reel, which apron is adapted to guide the cigars into the reel pockets, being slotted to permit said reel to revolve freely therethrough. The apron is supported by a foot 10 that is secured to the base, there being a similar foot 11 secured to said base adjacent to the rear end thereof. These feet together serve as supports for the cigar-box 12, in which box the ci ars are originally packed, the forward en of the box being broken away when the same is adjusted to the machine.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the front foot 10 is provided with upwardly projecting ears 13, 13 The ear 13 carries a point, against which the box is forced when placed in position, and the ear 13 is provided with a pointed set-screw 14 which is adjusted to the side of the box, these two points forming a fulcrum for said box at the forward end. This construction is provided for the purpose of permitting the box to be slightly gyrated, whereby the cigars contained therein are loosened and more readily fed forward to the reel, the gyration being ob tained by automatic means to be hereinafter described. The rear end of the box, in instances where the gyrating movement is utilized, is loosely guided between ears 15 that extend upwardly from the foot 11, but in instances where the gyrating movement is dispensed with, this end of the box may be locked by means of a set-screw 15 carried by one of said cars.

The shaft 6 has secured thereto a polyg- 1 To effect an adjustment of a fresh box of onal faced block 16, one face of which is l cigars, the operator is required to first press opposed by an arm 17 of a bell-crank lever, the arm being held into engagement with the block-face by means of a coil-spring 18 secured to the base and the opposite arm 19 of the bell-crank. The faces of the block correspond in number to the reel-pockets before mentioned and should there be 'a slight tendency to an incomplete or partial rotation of the reel, necessary to an operation, this spring-controlled bell-crank operating upon the faces of the block will thus insure, alinement whereby the complete movement of said reel is had. A tappetlever 20 is fulcrumed to the base 1, having one of its arms extending upwardly and adjacent tothe bottom of the cigar-box, the opposite arm of this lever being in link connection with arm 19 of the bell-crank lever. By this connection it will be seen that as the bell-crank lever is oscillated in opposition to its spring by means of the block, the tap pet-arm 20 will also vibrate and thus gyrate the cigar-box slightly at each operation of the mechanism.

A longitudinally disposed rail 21 is secured to the base of the machine and serves as a support for a head 22, which head is slidably mounted thereon. The head is provided with a socket for the reception of a leg 23, having an overhanging arm 24,

which arm projects at approximately right angles to said leg, being laterally extended over the cigar-box as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The arm carries a set of strippers 25, which depend therefrom and terminate adjacent to the bottom of the box, the entire mechanism comprising a feeder. Motion is imparted to the feeder by means of a flexible cable 26 having one of its ends secured to the head 22 and the opposite end connected to a drum 27, about which it is arranged to be coiled as the feeder mechanism travels forward incidental to stripping the box of its contents. The drum is loosely mounted upon the reel-shaft 6, and is provided with clutch-teeth upon one of its faces, which teeth are adapted to engage a clutch-member 28 that is secured to said shaft, the clutch-teeth of the reel and member being held in engagement by means of a coiledspring 29 surrounding the shaft, which spring is under compression and located between the adjacent disk 7 of the reel and face of said drum. This clutch connection between the shaft and drum is provided for the purpose of disengaging the drum and shaft after the feeder has completed its forward movement, the disengagement being effected for the purpose of permitting the operator who adjusts the mechanism, to retract the feeder to its normal or starting position, this being possible without causing any movement of the reel mechanism.

the reel clutchlever 30, which lever is fulcrumed to the adjacent frame-plate 5. The head 22 is then drawn upon the rail 21 to the rear of the casing and, for convenience of adjusting the parts, the feeder is removed from the head by withdrawal of its leg 23 therefrom. After this, the operator can readily adjust the full box of cigars in place. The feeder is then connected to the head with the strippers 25 rearward of the last vertical row of cigars within the 'boX, and in this position'the parts are ready for operation, it being understood that the intermittent forward movement imparted to the feeder is so proportioned that in its full forward operation, it will have delivered the number of cigars to the reel in proportionate relation to the depth'of its pockets.

The reel is operated by a hand-lever 31 that is fulcrumed to a bracket within the casing at the rear end thereof. The free end of this lever extends through a slot in the hopper casing 4 at the front end of the machine accessible to the operator, there being a spring-controlled push-pawl 32 fulcrumed thereto, adapted to engage a ratchetwheel'33, that is secured to the shaft 6. The ratchet-wheel is provided with teeth which correspond in number to the pockets upon the reel, and thus with each depression of the lever 31, the reel will deliver a single cigar, or two cigars within the pocket, it being understood that the pockets are so formed the cigars will, by gravity, be stripped therefrom at a point where the base of the pocket and adjacent face of the hopper 4 coincide incidental to the reel movement. The lever 31 is held in its position of rest by means of a coiled spring 34 connecting said lever and an arm of the adj acent frame-plate 5 the arm being offset for a portion of its length, whereby it is brought into convenient position between the plate and reel disk to operate upon the ratchetwheel. The frame-plate 5 is provided with a slot 35, through which a pin 36, that extends from the lever 31 projects, the pin being provided as a fulcrum for a strap 37, which strap has pivoted to its upper end a spring-controlled dog38. The dog constitutes the lock and release mechanism for the hand-lever 31, the same being released by means of a coin that is inserted through a slot in the casing into a runway 39 of a coinpocket 40.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the coin is checked in its travel through the runway by means of a shoe 41, which forms part of the dog. Now, should the operating lever be depressed, the engagement of the shoe 41 with the coin will cause the dog to rock upon its pivot. This movement in turn causes a locking-arm 42 of the dog to swing clear of a locking-pin 43, which pin extends from the frame-plate 5 This action frees the lever 31, whereby it may be depressed the full stroke to permit the delivery of a cigar to the operator. The strap 37 in the meantime being held in its position against a pin it by a coiled-spring 45. A series of coins are held within the coin-pocket 40 by means of an anchor-lever 46, which lever is fulcrumed to said pocket. An upper finger 47 normally projects through a slot of the pocket within the path of the coin-travel, the said finger being held in this position by means of a pin 48 which engages the anchorlever, the pinbeing carried by the strap. Upon depression of the hand-lever 31, the pin 18 will engage the lower spur 49 of the anchor-lever and thus retract the upper finger 47 from the coin-path. Simultaneously with this movement a corresponding lower finger 50 will come into the path of the coin which has just been'released, and hold the same within the mouth of the coin-pocket 40. Thus, upon the depression of the handlever, it will be seen that the series of coins within the pocket are simply dropped to permit the reception of a coin from above, and upon the return of the lever 31 to its normal position the action of the anchor will cause the last coin in the column to .be freed therefrom and the parts will again assume the position as shown in Fig. 4. By providing for holding a series of coins within the pockets the last coin inserted therein will remain in sight during a series of operations of the machine, this being desirable to prevent fraud or the insertion of a spurious coin, which can readily be detected. Should a coin of smaller diameter than is required to operate the machine be inserted therein, the latter will not be caught by the shoe 41, but will travel through the runway and be discharged through an-opening at its end, there being sufficient space between this opening and the casing wall to permit the coin to be thus discharged. As shown in Fig. 4, the casing at this side of the machine is broken away and contracted for the purpose of convenience in illustration. To prevent a coin of the proper value being discharged through the open end of the runway, an arm 51 is provided, which arm serves as a stop for the coin, the arm being connected to the locking-dog 38, and is thus drawn down to close the end of said runway when the lever 31 is depressed.

\Vhile I have shown and described this specific coin-control mechanism for unlock ing the operating lever, it is understood that any mechanism for accomplishing the same result may be utilized.

Having described the various parts of the machine in detail, it will be readily seen that even should a bunch of cigars be nested adjacent to the reel, the capacity of the latter will only permit the desired number to be taken up and delivered to the hopper 1, there being a shield 52 fitted over the reel, under which the cigars must pass to the hopper, the said shield being secured to the frame-plates 5 and 5*.

I claim:

1. A vending machine for cigars or the like comprising supporting means adapted to receive an open end box containing articles to be vended, a frame, an intermittently rotated reel mounted in the frame and arranged to be disposed adjacent to the open end of the box, a drum carried by the reel, a spring controlled clutch mechanism connecting the drum and reel, a release lever for the clutch, a rail disposed longitudinally of the box supporting means, a feed mechanism slidably mounted upon the rail, and a cable connecting the feed mechanism and drum aforesaid.

2. A vending machine for cigars or the like comprising supporting means adapted to receive an open end box containing the articles to be vended, a frame, an intermittently rotative reel mounted upon the frame and arranged to be disposed adjacent to the open end of the box, a drum carried by the reel and in clutch connection therewith, a rail disposed longitudinally of the box supporting means, a feed mechanism mounted upon the rail, a cable connecting the feed mechanism and drum aforesaid, a gyrating mechanism for the box, and means for operating the gyrating mechanism incidental to the reel movement.

3. A vending machine for cigars or the like comprising supporting means adapted to receive an open end box containing the articles to be vended, a frame, a shaft mounted inthe frame, the shaft being disposed opposite the open end of the box, disks having pockets therein secured to the shaft, a drum loosely mounted upon said shaft, means for locking the drum with relation to the aforesaid shaft, a rail disposed longitudinally of the box-supporting means, a head slidably supported upon the rail, a cable connecting the head and drum, a feed member adjustably secured to the head, strippers carried by the feed member, a ratchet-wheel secured to the shaft, a springcontrolled actuating lever, a pawl carried by the lever for engagement with the ratchet-wheel, and a lock and release mechanism for said lever.

4. In a vending machine for cigars or the like having a reel and a spring-controlled actuating-lever for the reel; the combination of a drum, a spring-controlled clutch mechanism connecting the drum and reel, a hand release lever for the clutch mechanism, a rail, a head slidably mounted upon the rail, the head being provided with a socket, a feed member fitted within the socket, de-

pending strippers in connection With the upon the rail, and a cable connecting the feed member, and a cable connecting the drum and feed mechanism. head and drum. In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 5. In a vending machine for cigars or the have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in 5 like having a reel and a spring-controlled the county of Milwaukee and State of Wis- 15 actuating-lever for the reel; the combinaconsin in the presence of two Witnesses.

' tion of a drum, a spring-controlled clutch RICHARD F. ,DOWNEY.

mechanism connecting the drum and reel, a Witnesses: release lever for the clutch mechanism, a THos. J. DELA HUNT,

10 rail, a feed mechanism slidably mounted N. E. OLIPHANT. 

